Combined handbag and umbrella carrier



Feb. 12, 1957 L. SEEMAN 2,781,113

COMBINED HANDBAG AND UMBRELLA CARRIER Filed Sept. 26, 1955 INVENTOR Louis Seeman/ BY ATTORNEYS WMWM United States Patent COMBINED HANDBAG AND UMBRELLA CARRIER Louis Seaman, New York, N. Y., assignor to New York Umbrella Co. Inc., a corporation of New York Application September 26, 1955, Serial N 0. 536,540

1 Claim. (Cl. 196-60) It is among the objects of the invention to provide a combined ladies handbag and umbrella carrier that is neat and attractive in appearance, light in weight and that will securely yet releasably retain an umbrella on the exterior thereof without interfering with free access to the interior of the handbag and without the use of clamps or other retaining means that are difiicult to adjust and when the umbrella is removed are unsightly, and detract from the decorative appearance of the handbag.

According to the invention, these objects are accomplished by the arrangement and combination of elements hereinafter described and particularly recited in the claim.

in the accompanying drawings in which are shown one or more of various possible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

Fig. l is a perspective view of the handbag according to the invention,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2--2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a detail view on a greatly enlarged scale showing an umbrella mounting loop, and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 of a retaining memher for the loop.

Referring now to the drawings, the handbag illustratively shown comprises a container 11 having substantially rectangular fiat side walls 12 and 13 rising from a substantially rectangular base or bottom wall 14 and rounded end walls 15 also rising from said base 14. The mouth of the container is desirably closed by flaps 16 and 17 extending the length of the side walls 12 and 13 respectively and affixed to the upper edges of said side walls as at 18.

Desirably the flap 17 is conformed to fold substantially midway between its longitudinal edges to define two sections a and b so that when the section a is secured to flap 16 as by means of a conventional lock 19, the mouth of the container may be expanded to accommodate relatively large articles that may be placed in the handbag.

The handbag may be of any suitable material such as cloth, leather or plastic and a liner 2.; is placed inside the handbag so that a portion thereof extends substantially parallel to and adjacent the inner surface of side wall 12. Desirable carrying straps in the form of loops 22 are afiixed to the upper edge of each of the side walls 12, 13.

As the construction of the handbag is conventional and per se forms no part of the invention, it will not be further described.

According to the invention, the side wall 12 has two pairs of spaced parallel openings 23 therethrough, the openings of each pair being positioned respectively on opposite sides and along a line extending at right angles to a line extending substantially diagonally across said side wall 12 as is shown in Fig. 1.

Each of the openings 23 is reinforced by an eyelet ice 24 which, however, does not extend through the inner lining 21. Extending through the eyelets 24 of each pair of openings 23 is a relatively :stitf though flexible cord 25 which may be of any suitable material such as plastic or leather and which defines aloop on the exterior of the side wall 12.

Secured to the ends of each of the cords which are positioned between the liner 21 and the wall 12 is a retaining member 26 which prevents withdrawal of such ends through the associated openings 23. Each of such retaining members as shown in Fig. 4, desirably comprises a substantially rectangular plate 27 of dimensions greater than that of openings 23 and having an opening 23 through which the end of the cord extends and an extension or arm 29 with a pairof ears 31 which are bent over the respective ends 32 of the cord to clamp such ends in position.

The loops are of such length that as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 when an umbrella 33 of length slightly greater than the length of a diagonal line across wall 12 is positioned thereunder and the cords are extended, limited by the abutment of the retaining member 26 against the inner end of eyelets 24, the umbrella will be securely yet releasably retained in position against the side wall 12 of the handbag.

When the umbrella is removed from the loops or cords 25 for use, or if it is desired to carry the handbag alone on a clear day without the umbrella 33, the loops or cords 25 may be pushed inwardly as shown in Fig. 3 so as to be substantially flush against the outer surface of wall 12. As a result of such inward movement, by reason of the relatively stiff cord 25 which forms the loop, the retaining members 26 will be moved away from the associated opening 23 and retained in posit-ion between the lining 21 and the side wall 12 which tend to clamp the retaining members therebetween. Thus, as the portion of the cords on the outer surface of wall 12 will be substantially flush thereagainst, as shown in Fig. 3, they will appear as strips which will enhance the appearance of the handbag, especially if they are of a color that contrasts with the color of the exterior of the side wall 12.

With the construct-ion above described, a woman may readily carry an umbrella for use in case of rain and as the loops 25 may be pushed inwardly so as to lie flush against the outer surface of Wall 12 so that the handbag presents a conventional effect, even in clear weather when an umbrella is not required, it may be carried by a well dressed woman without detracting from her appearance.

As many changes could be made in the above construction, and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope of the claim, it is intended that ail matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as ilustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

An article of the character described comprising a container having a carrying handle, said container hav- 2 ing a substantially fiat side wall, said wall having two pairs of openings therethrough, a lining in said container extending parallel to the inner surface of said flat side wall and positioned adjacent said inner surface, a cord extending through each of said pairs "of openings and slidable therethrough, the'length of said cords being greater than the distance between the associated pair of openings with the free ends of each of said cords being positioned between the lining and the inner surface of said flat side wall, a retaining plate of rigid material for each end of each of said cords of dimensions greater than an opening, each plate having an opening thcrethrough and an arm extending therefrom, said arm having a pair of ears at its free end, an end of each of said cords extending through an opening in an associated plate and being clamped against said arm'by said ears whereby the ends of said cords are restrained from withdrawal from said openings and said plates will be slidably clamped between the lining and the inner surface of said side wall, each of said cords defining a loop on the outer surface of said side wall, said loops extending parallel to each other at right angles to a line extending substantially diagonally across said side wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 523,953 Albershardt July 31, 1894 577,668 Stellner Feb. 23, 1897 746,617 Wenzell Dec. 8, 1903 1,233,019 Beehler July 10, 1917 r-rr 

